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Re: Among lower- paid workers, union members are less likely [#permalink]

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06 Feb 2013, 00:54

Among lower- paid workers, union members are less likely than non union members to be enrolled in lower- end insurance plans imposing stricter limits on medical services and requiring doctors to see more patients, and spend less time with each.

(A) imposing stricter limits on medical services and requiring doctors to see more patients, and spend. Incorrect. "And spend less time with each" does not refer to doctors but rather the low end insurance plans..(B) imposing stricter limits on medical services , requiring doctors to see more patients, and spending. Incorrect. "and spending" does not refer to doctors but rather the low end insurance plans.(C) that impose stricter limits on medical services, require doctors to see more patients, and spend . Incorrect "And spend less time with each" does not refer clearly to doctors.D) that impose stricter limits on medical services and require doctors to see more patients, spending - Correct. "And spend less time with each" needs to refer clearly to doctors. We need to maintain parallelism between "impose" and "require". (E) that impose stricter limits on medical services, requiring doctors to see more patients and spending. Incorrect. There are two effets of low insurance plans - imposing strict limits and requiring doctors. This sentence tends to imply that the "requiring doctors" is an outcome of imposing stricter limits which is wrong.

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28 Sep 2013, 11:23

chetan2u wrote:

here 'that impose' is better than 'imposing' as 'that' relates to the word immediately preceding it therefore A and Bare out.... now there are 3 activities a)impose stricter limits on medical services b) require doctors to see more patients, and c)spend less time with each.in these a and b are independent and c is dependent on b.... C makes all a ,b ,c independent...... E makes b and c dependent on a..only D makes a and b are independent and c dependent on b.. therefore D is the ans... hope i have been some help..

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The thing with using verb-ing modifiers is that they will make the clause dependent on the outcome of previous clause or vice versa. Here "doctors have to see more patients" not because of stricter limits on medical services but, E leads you to believe that that is the reason , whereas option D uses and which makes the relationship independent. The clause at the end; however, is dependent on or is an outcome of the previous clause. You can say that because doctors have to see more patients they have to spend less time with each, Hence verb-ing form here is correct.
_________________

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Look at the explanation by Stacey Koprince, Manhattan GMAT instructor, who scored 780.

Among <big group>, <sub-group A> are less likely than <sub-group B> to X.

In the original sentence, X is a very complex clause with two sets of compound modifiers: to be enrolled in <Y> imposing <modifier1> and requiring<modifier1> [to see <modifier 2> and spend <modifier2>]

The first set of modifiers modifies something before "imposing"; in addition, the "imposing" and "requiring" parts are parallel. The second set modifies something before "to see"; in addition, the "see" and "spend" parts are parallel.

So, let's start with: what are they modifiying? Nouns or clauses? Something, someone, or some clause is "imposing limits" and "requiring doctors" - what is it? It's the "insurance plans." That's a noun, so we want a noun modifier setup. Those -ing words that introduce modifying phrases or clauses indicate adverbial modifiers, not noun modifiers. Eliminate A. Scan the answer. Eliminate B for repeating the error.

You could also have started with the second set: what do they modify? They modify "doctors" and parallelism dictates that we read it as "require doctors to see more" and "<require doctors to> spend less time." The plan actually requires doctors to spend less time with patients? That meaning seems... off. More logically, spending less time would seem to be a consequence of having to see more patients in the first place.

C, D, and E all start with "that." "That" is an indicator of a noun modifier, so that's good. Let's check parallelism next, since we know compound modifiers need to be parallel. This is where it can get a little messy, because we also have "nested" modifiers. So go back and pick apart that meaning:

For simplicity, I'll just type one form of each relevant word. We've got: impose, require, see, spend. Should they all be parallel? Are only some parallel to others? What is each one talking about? Let's see.

The "insurance plans" both impose limits and require doctors, so those two should be parallel. Do the plans see more patients? Nope - the plan requires the doctors to see more patients. Do the plans spend less time with the patients? No - that's also the doctors. Do the plans require doctors to spend less time with patients? I hope not! The "spending less time" thing is a consequence of the previous requirement (having to see more patients).

C says: impose, require, and spend. This says that "insurance plans that impose limits, <insurance plans that> require doctors to see more patients, and <insurance plans that> spend less time with each. That last one has a nonsensical meaning - eliminate. D says impose and require, spending. This says that "insurance plans that impose limits and <insurance plans that> require doctors to see more patients, spending less time with each." The ", spending" set-up indicates an adverbial modifier. Why are they spending less time with each? Not because they are doctors (noun) or because of the patients (noun), but because the doctors are required to see more patients (clause). Adverbial modifiers modify clauses. So this works. E says impose, requiring and spending. This says "insurance plans that impose limits, requiring doctors to see more and spending less time with each." The ", requiring... and spending" pieces indicate a compoun adverbial modifier, so the fact that the plans impose limits should result in (a) doctors seeing more patients, and (b) someone (unclear who) spending less time with each. Are the doctors spending less time with the patients? Technically, (a) and (b) should be able to stand completely alone. If I strip out (a), I'm left with "insurance plans that impose stricter limits on medical services, spending less time with each." Who's actually spending less time? I don't know. Meaning is ambiguous - eliminate._________________Stacey Koprince GMAT Instructor Director of Online Community Manhattan GMAT

Awesome explanation. Never looked modifier in this way. Thanks for sharing.+1 kudos from me.

Re: Among lower- paid workers, union members are less likely [#permalink]

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24 Apr 2014, 22:10

sreehari1250 wrote:

Among lower- paid workers, union members are less likely than non union members to be enrolled in lower- end insurance plans imposing stricter limits on medical services and requiring doctors to see more patients, and spend less time with each.

(A) imposing stricter limits on medical services and requiring doctors to see more patients, and spend (B) imposing stricter limits on medical services , requiring doctors to see more patients, and spending (C) that impose stricter limits on medical services, require doctors to see more patients, and spend (D) that impose stricter limits on medical services and require doctors to see more patients, spending(E) that impose stricter limits on medical services, requiring doctors to see more patients and spending

I choose "C" but it is incorrect please explain the correct answer

In option D,Is spending is modifying the entire Independent clause ( Union members.....to see more patient)by showingthe result of the clause ?

is it possible that comma verbing(spending) can modify dependent clause? i.e lower-end insurance plans requrie doctors to see more patients

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Among lower- paid workers, union members are less likely than non union members to be enrolled in lower- end insurance plans imposing stricter limits on medical services and requiring doctors to see more patients, and spend less time with each.

(A) imposing stricter limits on medical services and requiring doctors to see more patients, and spend (B) imposing stricter limits on medical services , requiring doctors to see more patients, and spending (C) that impose stricter limits on medical services, require doctors to see more patients, and spend (D) that impose stricter limits on medical services and require doctors to see more patients, spending(E) that impose stricter limits on medical services, requiring doctors to see more patients and spending

I choose "C" but it is incorrect please explain the correct answer

In option D,Is spending is modifying the entire Independent clause ( Union members.....to see more patient)by showingthe result of the clause ?

is it possible that comma verbing(spending) can modify dependent clause? i.e lower-end insurance plans requrie doctors to see more patients

Dear Abid,Thank you for your query. I feel that the discussion on the correct answer and the use of comma + verb –ing modifier will be more relevant and productive after we analyze your understanding of the intended meaning of the author. Accordingly, please send me your meaning analysis and your reasons for marking choice C, showing how choice C conveys the intended meaning.

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16 Feb 2015, 17:20

Among lower- paid workers, union members are less likely than non union members to be enrolled in lower- end insurance plans imposing stricter limits on medical services and requiring doctors to see more patients, and spend less time with each.

(A) imposing stricter limits on medical services and requiring doctors to see more patients, and spend Incorrect. "spend" is parallel to "union members are...", so it implies that the union mambers are the ones who spend less time, what is logically incorrect. (B) imposing stricter limits on medical services , requiring doctors to see more patients, and spending Incorrect. False parallelism; spending is not logically parallel to requiring or imposing.(C) that impose stricter limits on medical services, require doctors to see more patients, and spend Incorrect. False parallelism; spend is not logically parallel to impose or require.(D) that impose stricter limits on medical services and require doctors to see more patients, spendingCorrect.(E) that impose stricter limits on medical services, requiring doctors to see more patients and spendingIncorrect. requiring should be logically parallel to impose.

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04 Jan 2016, 22:59

egmat wrote:

Hi All,

Among lower- paid workers, union members are less likely than non-union members to be enrolled in lower- end insurance plans imposing stricter limits on medical services and requiring doctors to see more patients, and spend less time with each.

Among lower-paid workers, union members are less likely than non-union members to be enrolled in lower-end insurance plans. Now these plans do things:a. they impose stricter limits on medical services, andb. they require doctors to see more patients.Now if the doctors are required to see more patients, then they will spend less time with each patient.

Error Analysis:

1. The modifiers “imposing” and “requiring” correctly modify “lower-end insurance plans”, and they are parallel as well. However, “spend less time” fails to show that this action is the effect of doctors seeing more patients per the plans. 2. The only way to show this effect is by turning verb “spend” into verb-ing modifier “spending” to actually show the outcome.3. This change alone however will not solve the problem because when we have comma + verb-ing modifier, it modifies the preceding clause. With the original sentence structure, the only clause we have is “union members are less likely…”. This is certainly the wrong modification.4. Hence we need to change verb-ing modifiers “imposing” and “requiring” to “that” clauses so that maintain the parallelism as well as “spending” can correctly modify the “that” clause that talks about the doctors required to see more patients.

POE:

Choice A: imposing stricter limits on medical services and requiring doctors to see more patients, and spend: Incorrect for the reasons stated above.

Choice B: imposing stricter limits on medical services, requiring doctors to see more patients, and spending: Incorrect. Turning verb “spend” into verb-ing modifier “spending” now makes it parallel with “imposing” and “requiring”. The sentence now means that the new plans will spend less time with each patient. This is not logical.

Choice C: that impose stricter limits on medical services, require doctors to see more patients, and spend: Incorrect. This choice repeats the same error by making “impose”, “require”, and “spend” parallel.

Choice D: that impose stricter limits on medical services and require doctors to see more patients, spending: Correct. The verbs "impose” and “requires” are parallel with the use of “that” clause that correctly shows what the new plans do. Verb-ing modifier “spending” now correctly modifies the preceding action "required to see", correctly showing the effect of the preceding action. The thing to note about the usage of comma + verb-ing modifier is that generally we say that this modifier modifies the preceding clause. But actually this modifier modifies the preceding action. This action may not necessarily be the verb of the preceding clause. It can be an action denoted by the "to verb" phrase. But because generally, a comma _ modifier appears after a clause, we say that it modifies the preceding clause.

In this answer choice, "spending" actually modifies the preceding action "to see" by presenting the result of this action. If doctors are required to see more patients, they will have to spend less time with each to accommodate more patients, Also, "spending" makes sense with the doer of the action denoted by "to see" that is "doctors" as the doctors will spend less time with each patient in order to see more patients.

Choice E: that impose stricter limits on medical services, requiring doctors to see more patients and spending: Incorrect. By making “requiring” and “spending” parallel, the sentence now suggests that these two are the effects of imposing the stricter limits on medical services. This is certainly not the intended meaning of the sentence.

pavanpuneet wrote:

"So, let's start with: what are they modifiying? Nouns or clauses? Something, someone, or some clause is "imposing limits" and "requiring doctors" - what is it? It's the "insurance plans." That's a noun, so we want a noun modifier setup. Those -ing words that introduce modifying phrases or clauses indicate adverbial modifiers, not noun modifiers. Eliminate A. Scan the answer. Eliminate B for repeating the error. "

Can some throw some light on the following concept?

-ing form goes gor adverbial clauses and not noun modifiers... I am confused at this statement, for example, working hard all the times, Joe achieved his goal, ....working...modifies noun...isnt it?

can someone explain me may in lay man terms when to use ing form and when to use that form

Thanks in advance.

Hi there,Use of any kind of modifier is completely governed by the context of the sentence. I personally do not like to give out rules but to make it simple for you, I can suggest that use comma + verb-ing modifiers to give additional information or show the results or effects of the preceding clause.

When you need to modify a noun entity, you can either use just the verb-ing modifier or the “that” clause immediately after that noun entity.

When you have a situation like this sentence where we have two modifiers, then use “that” clause to modify the noun entity and use comma + verb-ing modifier to show the effect of the preceding clause.

In this sentence, we could only ascertain where to use which modifier only after we understood the meaning of the sentence. Hence, the key to determine the use of various modifiers is to first understand the logical intended meaning of the sentence and then decide which modifier to use depending upon the roles these modifiers play. So this means that you must have the knowledge of the roles played by various modifiers.

Hope this helps.Thanks.Shraddha

Hi Shraddha

Sorry but this is quite frustrating. All through I learnt verb-ing with comma modifies the preceding clause and must make sense with the subject. I have gone through quite a few questions when the verb-ing with comma made no sense with the subject and was eliminated correctly. So why the change here. Rules if given should not contradict right?

Re: Among lower- paid workers, union members are less likely [#permalink]

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20 Jan 2016, 20:59

sreehari1250 wrote:

Among lower- paid workers, union members are less likely than non union members to be enrolled in lower- end insurance plans imposing stricter limits on medical services and requiring doctors to see more patients, and spend less time with each.

(A) imposing stricter limits on medical services and requiring doctors to see more patients, and spend (B) imposing stricter limits on medical services , requiring doctors to see more patients, and spending (C) that impose stricter limits on medical services, require doctors to see more patients, and spend (D) that impose stricter limits on medical services and require doctors to see more patients, spending(E) that impose stricter limits on medical services, requiring doctors to see more patients and spending

I choose "C" but it is incorrect please explain the correct answer

Chetan2u has given the perfect answer.

A and B are out, incorrect construction.

C is incorrect - Grammatically it may be right but has no meaningE - Parallelism error.D - correct

Re: Among lower- paid workers, union members are less likely [#permalink]

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20 Jan 2016, 23:16

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Among lower- paid workers, union members are less likely than nonunion members to be enrolled in lower- end insurance plans imposing stricter limits on medical services and requiring doctors to see more patients, and spend less time with each.

The first observation is that a comma does not precede the ‘ing’ modifier imposing in this case. Therefore, any discussion relating it to the rules that pertain to an adverbial modifier is futile. Imposing without a comma before is an adjectival modifier in this case and modifies the plans. Similarly, the restrictive pronoun ‘that’ also refers to plans and is correct. In fact, the split of using ‘posing’ and ‘that impose’ is a pseudo split to divert the focus. What decides the correct choice is the rest of the sentence, and the logic of the meaning expressed there. The intent of the topic is that the plans impose two restrictions. 1. Limits on medical services (maybe such as fewer number of diseases covered or financial limits on the amount to be given) and 2. That doctors see more patients by spending less time with each patient. Spending less time with patients is a means to achieve the objective of seeing more patients and not yet another objective. So ‘spending’ should be given a modifier status and not the main verb role. Additionally, when you give a verb status to the factor of spending, it will mean that the plans either spend or do spending, which is illogical.

In the light of the above, (A) imposing stricter limits on medical services and requiring doctors to see more patients, and spend ------ and spend is wrong – ‘spend’ is given a verb status.

(B) imposing stricter limits on medical services, requiring doctors to see more patients, and spending – The modifier ‘requiring’ is wrong as it is one of the two main objectives; it has to be given a verb status.

(C) that impose stricter limits on medical services, require doctors to see more patients, and spend --- wrong – 1. ‘and is missed between services and require. 2. and spend is wrong as in A.

(D) that impose stricter limits on medical services and require doctors to see more patients, spending – This is correct because now spending is relegated to modifier status

(E) that impose stricter limits on medical services, requiring doctors to see more patients and spending --- pushing the second factor of requiring to a modifier status as if it is a corollary of the stricter limits is wrong. Secondly and spending signifies that it is the plans which are spending

That is the logic of this beautiful question. .
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